$2.4M grant aimed at helping 21st Century scholars graduate

Mentor Mateen Hussain (cq), right, works with student Mizuho Ikeda at the MAC (Math Assistance Center.) Students struggling in math courses at IUPUI or wanting to improve their grades can get one-on-one help from a tutor, oftentimes upperclassmen who've taken numerous math courses, or from mentors who are assigned specific math courses for which they assist the class members.(Photo: Adriane Jaeckle/Indianapolis Star)

With a new $2.4 million grant, the state is aiming to help more low-income scholarship students stay in college through graduation.

USA Funds, an Indianapolis-based higher education nonprofit, announced the grant today in an effort to boost low graduation rates among 21st Century Scholars. It will connect about 2,500 need-based scholarship recipients with college success coaches at Ivy Tech Community College, Indiana State University and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

"We firmly believe that all Scholars can be successful, and a growing body of research indicates that an effective college coach can empower students to overcome the barriers that all too often prevent them from completing college and reaching their full potential," said Teresa Lubbers, Indiana's commissioner for higher education, in a news release.

The 21st Century Scholars program is a "promise" scholarship. Low-income students enroll in the program during seventh or eighth grades and must maintain a 2.5 grade-point average, stay drug- and alcohol-free and complete college-preparation activities.

The scholarship covers tuition for four years at an Indiana public college or the equivalent at a private college.

About 100,000 Hoosier students are in the program, which is the second-largest pool of state financial aid. The state spends about $100 million annually to fund the 21st Century Scholars.

But while 21st Century Scholars are much more likely than all other Hoosier students to go to college, state data shows they're less likely to do well or earn degrees.

Just 15 percent of 21st Century Scholars graduate on time, data shows.

Through this new grant, academic college coaches from the California-based company InsideTrack will work with students to develop success strategies.

The state projects coaching could raise graduation rates by 10 to 15 percent.

"Where an academic adviser might be focused on how the student needs to schedule their coursework," said Dave Jarrat, InsideTrack's vice president of marketing, "we're going to be focused much more on how they are going to balance personal commitments or work, helping them develop critical thinking skills, plan how they're going to get to graduation, contingency planning (for obstacles), and determining what it is that they want to do ultimately in their career and life and how they're going to get there."

Because low-income students can often be first-generation college students, Jarrat said, they tend to face two certain issues: Not knowing what to expect from the college experience and being less confident that they're "college material."

Last year, InsideTrack coaches worked with a select group of freshmen at Indiana State.

This new program could raise insights on how three different types of institutions support the same type of students, Jarrat said.

If the coaching program is successful, the state expects it to become self-sustaining after this first grant-funded year. The three colleges will continue to offer it for a second year using the additional tuition revenue and state funding that will come from more students returning to school.

"We were very eager to help, because college completion is an important first step toward your career," said Carol D'Amico, USA Funds' executive vice president of national engagement and philanthropy. "This is a great marriage for us."

The organization, historically a student loan guarantor, is shifting its focus toward the connection between postsecondary education and the workforce.